Marketing club hosts entrepreneurship event

Ever have a great idea for a business but no clue where to start? The LCC American Marketing Association (AMA) is there to help.

The fourth annual Entrepreneurship event is scheduled to take place Wednesday, Feb. 26 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the West Campus.

This free event invites students to pitch their business proposals to a panel of local professionals who will award winners $2,000 in cash prizes.

“We’re trying to get between 12 and 15 student presenters to come present to a panel of judges,” said Zach Basler, AMA vice president of professional development. “We’ve got four different local professionals that are going to act as judges.”

Student presenters will have five minutes to deliver their business proposal. This will be followed by five minutes of feedback.

During the judges’ deliberation, there will be an hour-long panel of Q&A from other local professionals in the area. Panel participants include representatives from Northwestern Mutual, the Small Business Development Center and an independent consulting individual.

Basler said this year the AMA is hoping to draw in an audience with the help of its sponsor, Crunchy’s in East Lansing.

The college town eatery is giving away $10 gift certificates to the first 50 people who show up to the entrepreneurship event. Those in attendance will vote for the people’s choice presentation, the winner of which will receive additional $100.

This is the fourth year the AMA is hosting the Entrepreneurship Event.

“The winner last year was presenting a video game idea that he had,” Basler said. “And actually, that was one of the early successes for him.

Last year, he presented the idea; he’s moved so far ahead that he actually is working full time on video games. His dream really did come true,” Basler added.

Video games, restaurant concepts, and auto detailing shops were just some of the business proposals in the past.

While ideas are up to the discretion of the AMA, and student presenters are preferred, community members with interesting new ideas are also welcome to apply.

Interested students are required to bring their business idea to the Hole in the Hall (GB 133) or email Zach Basler at zachbasler@gmail.com to register for the free event. The deadline for registration is Friday, Feb. 21.